On Tuesday, Kai Eide, the UN special representative to Afghanistan, called in a written statement for the poll authorities to ensure the final outcome faithfully reflected the will of Afghan voters.

Later, the Election Complaints Commission (ECC) told the BBC there should be a recount where any single candidate received more than 95% of valid votes, in any polling station where more than 100 votes were cast.

The body - which has been investigating hundreds of allegations of major poll fraud - also called for an audit in any polling station where 600 or more votes were cast.

ECC spokesman Grant Kippen said questionable results had so far been identified in Ghazni, Paktika and Kandahar provinces.

It is not yet known how many of the thousands of polling stations nationwide could be affected by the recounts and audits, he added.

A check by the BBC found 16 polling stations in Kandahar alone where more than 95% of votes had been cast for Mr Karzai.

More results are to be declared on Tuesday, but the BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul says many senior international officials believe they could be fraudulent.

In the latest results, published on Sunday, Hamid Karzai was within touching distance of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a run-off.

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